“Leonard Covello and the Making of Benjamin Franklin High School” by Michael C. Johanek and John L. Puckett discusses the creation of a community-centered high school in East Harlem. Covello’s goal for creating this high school, was to create a school that is more than just a few hours a day in a classroom, he wants the school to create a community amongst all of the school members and the surrounding neighborhood: “The responsibility of the school as an educational factor does not cease at the hour of dismissal in the afternoon; it extends far beyond the walls of the school” (141).
Covello wanted a school that would be a launching pad for well-rounded students who would then influence their families and communities. Similarly, in W.E.B. Du Bois’s “Does the Negro Need Separate Schools”, Du Bois discusses the idea of having highly educated black scholars teach at the predominantly black and low-income schools, so that the students would be positively influenced by them. The thirties were seen as the “Golden Age” of education because of its teachers which was one of the components of Covello’s high school. Comparing both of these texts to P.S. 307 who had great teachers and a hardworking principal, I believe it is safe to say that teachers play a huge role in student development.
I believe we were assigned this reading because while it may be about a different demographic group and in the thirties, the goals are the same and so are some of the issues. For example, the Italian-American students attending Benjamin Franklin High School had low self-esteem because of the way they were portrayed in media and viewed in society. Du Bois, knew low self-esteem was a factor that effected black students education during his time and present day it is socio-economic status. The problems we see today have been noticed and have been happening for a while – the project we are working on in this class is on how to fix these policy problems.
it is interesting how you related this reading to both a previous reading and the apparent mindset of ‘modern’ schools. the comparison seems very apt considering the goals the school was founded on based on the reading. initially reading this, i was confused as to why we were reading about this school and it’s situation, but your analysis sheds some much appreciated light on the subject as i didn’t previously look at it that way. i now understand why this reading was assigned and how it gives us yet another perspective from which to view the other past readings, other future readings, and the schools we are researching.
it is interesting how you related this reading to both a previous reading and the apparent mindset of ‘modern’ schools. the comparison seems very apt considering the goals the school was founded on based on the reading. initially reading this, i was confused as to why we were reading about this school and it’s situation, but your analysis sheds some much appreciated light on the subject as i didn’t previously look at it that way. i now understand why this reading was assigned and how it gives us yet another perspective from which to view the other past readings, other future readings, and the schools we are researching.
Thanks for this, Kiki. I think you make some nice connections between previous readings and our group project and the story presented in these chapters. Specifically, there is the idea that while schooling is universal it can also have different meanings (and perhaps take different forms?) in different communities. The notion of self-esteem is a tricky one and many critics today seem to believe that the idea is a new one and that we Americans worry about it too much. But as you point out, children’s self-esteem was a concern in oppressed communities going back at least a century.